Deal reached, schools to stay open

Negotiations between CUPE, province went on all weekend

TORONTO — A deal reached late Sunday has averted a strike that threatened to close Peterborough-area schools Monday.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce met with reporters gathered at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto — where talks had been ongoing all weekend — to say that schools would be open Monday.

A tentative deal was reached, he said.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board notified parents via Twitter (@KPRDSB) just after 9 p.m. Sunday: “KPR is pleased to report all our schools will be OPEN tomorrow, Oct 7. School day and busing proceed as usual.”

That was soon followed by the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board (@PVNCCDSB): “All schools in the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board will be open tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 7).” “The government has remained a constructive force at the table with one mission in mind: Keeping students in a safe and positive learning environment,” Lecce said.

“By negotiating in good faith, all parties have demonstrated that a tentative deal can be achieved.”

CUPE was scheduled to hold a news conference after Lecce spoke, after The Examiner’s print deadline.

Across Ontario, about 55,000 unionized educational assistants, early childhood educators, custodians and office staff represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees were to be in a strike position Monday if a deal hadn’t been reached over the weekend.

The union announced its intention to strike last week, after beginning a work-to-rule campaign.

Both the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board and the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board issued statements about the decision to close if a strike were to happen last week, citing student safety as the key factor.

Both boards represent schools in Peterborough city and county.

The closure would have left

parents to make alternate daycare arrangements.

The situation was similar in other Ontario communities. A strike would have seen hundreds of schools across Ontario closing their doors, because at least two dozen school boards — including the three largest — have said they can’t operate without the workers.

The Toronto District School Board reported that nearly half of its 38,000 staff members are represented by CUPE, making it logistically impossible to stay open during a strike.

There was a media blackout on the weekend, but the government has previously said one of the key issues was sick leave and how it leads to a “revolving door” of staff in schools.

The province had previously announced a one-per-cent cap on public sector raises.

Lecce told the Toronto Star Friday that a deal was within reach.

The union was seeking what it calls “service security” — or job security and consistent hours for staff to serve children, especially those with special needs. Hundreds of CUPE workers were laid off across the province as school boards balanced their books amid cutbacks.

More details of the deal were expected to be made public in the days ahead.